After studying music at York University and singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Joseph Cornwell began his career with The Consort of Musicke and the Taverner Consort. Singing under conductors such as William Christie, Harry Christophers, Eric Ericson, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Robert King, Hervé Niquet and Andrew Parrott, his international engagements have taken him throughout Europe and to North America and the Far East. He also appeared in concert throughout the UK with orchestras including the Britten Sinfonia, the Northern Sinfonia, the London Mozart Players and the OSJ.

Operatic roles have included Snout A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, Mitridate Il Pompeo Magno at the Varazdin Festival, Croatia, Polimone Il Tito for the Opéra du Rhin, Achille Iphigénie en Aulide for Opera Factory, Lurcanio Ariodante for St Gallen Opera, Pilade Oreste for the English Bach Festival, Monteverdi Orfeo for the Boston Early Music Festival, in Rio de Janeiro and for Oslo Summer Opera, Giove Il ritorno d’Ulisse and King Arthur in Lisbon, Eumete Il ritorno d’Ulisse for the Académie Européenne de Musique at the Aix–en–Provence Festival, Agenore Il re pastore for Radio Television Luxembourg, and Tamese Arsilda, Regina di Ponto at the Barga Festival.